Discover the incredible diversity within the world of artists’ filmmaking in the UK, with a presentation of the work of the shortlist of this year’s Film London Jarman Award. From dream-like films that follow the nocturnal work of women to work that explores questions around migration, gender, censorship, crime and family relationships, the 2024 Film London Jarman Award showcases an extraordinary diversity of creative approaches to the moving image. Boundaries between reality and fiction, performance and authenticity are blurred, structure and time are collapsed and old and new technologies are mixed.
Found-footage is collaged with the cinema of post-Revolutionary Iran in elegiac films by Maryam Tafakory. Her work reveals how objects, words and glances have been used as substitutes for physical contact between men and women in Iranian film history.
Artist and filmmaker Sin Wai Kin uses moving image and performance to invite viewers to think beyond binary constructions of gender. Set in opulent palaces and enchanting Italian gardens, their film, Dreaming the End, brings forth both the familiar and the uncanny in an interlocking tapestry of dreamlike narratives and enigmatic characters.
Denim Sky, a 16mm film by Rosalind Nashashibi, chronicles family, relationships, community and intimate moments of contemporary life. Often utilising a non-linear or stream of consciousness style, Nashashibi used I Ching, the ancient Chinese oracle, to structure this film. The film, which was shot and edited over four years, looks at ideas of community and the non-nuclear family and features the artist alongside her family, children and friends.
Central to Maeve Brennan’s investigative films are issues of restoration and preservation. Here she meticulously documents detailed stories of art theft. The film follows the story of stolen 4th century Apulian vases through the hands of looters, smugglers, restorers and dealers to the offices of two forensic archaeologists, revealing how forensic and mythological narratives start to intertwine.
Constructed as a film-within-a-film, Melanie Manchot’s first feature, STEPHEN, sees the borders between fact and storytelling collide. The film focuses on Stephen Giddings, a recovering addict, who auditions for a role in a fictional crime film while transforming his life in the real world.
In Larry Achiampong’s film A Letter, we witness the story of a man facing sectioning. The unfolding narrative collapses time to reveal the impact of history, immigration and geographical separation on two brothers living in Britain and Ghana.
The six artists shortlisted for the 2024 Film London Jarman Award create work characterised by a fluidity of style and commitment to radical and innovative ways of producing moving image art. Their work offers fresh perspectives on both personal and political subjects.
Now in its seventeenth year, the Award has built an enviable reputation for celebrating the practices of ground-breaking artist filmmakers working in the UK. Previously shortlisted artists include Heather Phillipson, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Oreet Ashery, Duncan Campbell, Monster Chetwynd,
Luke Fowler, Imran Perretta, Charlotte Prodger, Laure Prouvost, Elizabeth Price, James Richards, and Project Art Works all of whom went on to be shortlisted for or to win the Turner Prize.
Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of Film London, said:
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of Film London and I’m proud to be celebrating two decades of supporting our capital’s screen industries, talent and culture. The Film London Jarman Award is central to our support of artist filmmakers, celebrating a spirit of experimentation and imagination. As we celebrate our history, what better time to also spotlight current and future talent, and present works that are innovative and boundary pushing. Congratulations go to all six shortlisted artists and I would like thank our funders, Arts Council England, for their vital support.”
The jury said:
“The Jarman Award continues to champion the most exciting moving image work being produced in the UK today. Each of the six artists shortlisted for this year’s award has impressed the jury with visually striking and imaginative work that challenges viewers to engage with new ways of seeing the world. With a commitment to film’s potential as a medium for aesthetic and political experimentation, the legacy of Derek Jarman’s fearless work lives on through this year’s shortlist.”[KS1]
The winner of the Jarman Award will be announced in late November in London. In the run-up to the event, audiences can explore the work of the shortlisted artists through a nationwide touring programme presented in partnership with a variety of cultural venues across the UK.
The Jury who selected this year’s shortlist are: Matthew Barrington, Cinema Curator, Barbican; Shaminder Nahal, Commissioning Editor, Arts and Topical, Channel 4; 2023 Jarman Award shortlisted artist, Julianknxx; Ali Roche, Chief Curator, Nottingham Contemporary and Eve Gabereau, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Modern Films and Film London Board Member.
Film London Artists' Moving Image Network (FLAMIN)
Film London, with funding from Arts Council England (ACE), is a major supporter of artists’ filmmaking, through the Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN). FLAMIN was launched by Film London in 2005 as a one-stop resource to provide London-based artists working in the moving image with access to funding, guidance and development opportunities. Through unique commissioning funds, FLAMIN has commissioned over 200 productions, and supported the careers of countless other artists with programmes of one-to-one advice sessions, residencies and workshops.
Maryam Tafakory
Maryam Tafakory works at the intersection of cinema and live performance. Solo screenings and exhibitions of her work include: MoMA, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Academy Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of the Moving Image, New York; Filmoteca de Catalunya, Barcelona and LUX London. Selected group events include: Tate Modern, London; Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, Cannes; New York Film Festival; Locarno Film Festival; Toronto International Film Festival and Villa Medici, Rome. She was awarded the Gold Hugo at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival; the Tiger Short Award at the 51st Rotterdam IFF; the Barbara Hammer Feminist Film Award at the 60th Ann Arbor Film Festival; and the Best Experimental Film Award at the 70th and 71st Melbourne International Film Festival.
Larry Achiampong
Larry Achiampong has presented projects across the UK and globally, including commissions with Art on the Underground, London (2022); The Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool (2021) and The Line, London (2020). ‘If It Don’t Exist, Build It’, Achiampong’s first book with Tate Publishing will be available in September 2024. His work is featured as part of Compton Verney’s 20th anniversary sculpture trail until 2027. Achiampong’s most recent solo exhibition ‘A Letter, A Pledge’ was presented at Stanley Picker Gallery in January 2024. Previous solo exhibitions toured Turner Contemporary, MK Gallery, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead; Frieze Focus and John Hansard Gallery, Southampton.
Maeve Brennan
Maeve Brennan is an artist and filmmaker based in London. Recent solo exhibitions include Stanley Picker Gallery, London; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Spike Island, Bristol; The Whitworth, Manchester. Brennan’s work was featured in British Art Show 9 (2021-22) and her films have been screened internationally at International Film Festival Rotterdam; FILMADRID; Sheffield Doc Fest and Sonic Acts, Amsterdam. She received the Jerwood/FVU Award (2018), Paul Hamlyn Award for Artists (2021) and was the Stanley Picker Fine Art Fellow (2019–22). She was awarded the Sainsbury Scholarship at the British School at Rome (2023) and is currently in residence at Somerset House Studios, London.
Melanie Manchot
Melanie Manchot makes work for cinematic and art-world distribution.In 2023 Manchot completed her first feature film STEPHEN, which was premiered at Liverpool Biennial 2023. Her films have screened at Locarno Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Raindance and Videonale. Her work was recently presented in a major survey show at Museum MAC/VAL, Paris. Selected recent solo exhibitions: include Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne: ICA, London; Nuit Blanche, Paris and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. Public and museum acquisitions include: Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; LACMA, Los Angeles; Arts Council Collection UK; Collection of the German Government, Berlin (Germany); Government Art Collection, UK.
Rosalind Nashashibi
Rosalind Nashashibi is a London based artist. In 2020, Nashashibi was artist in residence at the National Gallery in London. She was a Turner Prize nominee in 2017, and represented Scotland in the 52nd Venice Biennale. Her work has been included in Documenta 14, The 14th Shanghai Biennale, Manifesta 7, The Nordic Triennial, and Sharjah 10. Nashashibi received a Paul Hamlyn Award in 2014 and Becks Futures Award in 2003. Her solo exhibitions include; Nottingham Contemporary; Musée Art Contemporain Carré d’Art, Nîmes; Vienna Secession; The High Line, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; and ICA, London amongst others. Nashashibi’s films have been featured in film festivals and screenings worldwide including Edinburgh Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Festival Ciné Palestine and others.
Sin Wai Kin
Sin Wai Kin brings fantasy to life through storytelling in moving image, performance, writing, and print. The artist was the recipient of the 24th Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel 2023. Their film, A Dream of Wholeness in Parts (2021) was nominated for the 2022 Turner Prize, and included in the touring exhibition the British Art Show 9, as well as being screened at the British Film Institute’s 65th London Film Festival. Upcoming solo exhibitions include Paul Soto, Los Angeles; Accelerator, Stockholm; Canal Projects, New York. Sin’s work is held in public collections including the collections of The British Museum Prints & Drawings. Recent solo exhibitions include MUDAM, Luxembourg; Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb and Taipei Contemporary Art Centre, Taipei.
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